Dying sucks, but it doesn't have too

Dying sucks, but it doesn’t have too

A death sometimes isn’t a death. Death sometimes feels like it’s all around us. We have lost people close to us, some expected and some unexpected. From my 35 years of life on earth, there is a major difference going to funerals. The difference is when I go to a Christian funeral compared to a (lack of a better term) normal funeral.

Now if you have lost someone close to you, I am so sorry, but please let me explain the difference between the two.

Paul shares these two verses in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” There is a difference in death.

This was shared in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, “Paul wanted the Thessalonians to be neither ignorant nor grieving like the rest of men, that is, like unbelievers, over the death of fellow believers. Christians do grieve over the loss of loved ones; this is a normal human experience which even Jesus shared (John 11:35). But the grief of Christians differs from that of unbelievers, for the latter have no hope of bodily resurrection to glory with Christ (1 Thes. 4:16). Two reasons why Christians should not grieve like unbelievers are that Christians have a revelation from God that gives them hope and they have a glorious future with Christ. Just as certainly as Jesus died and was resurrected by the Father, so God will unite the resurrected dead in Christ with their Savior at His coming.^[1]

Hope. It’s a completely different feeling when you are certain the person passing away is a Christian, the room has a calming presents that it’s hard to explain. The grief is more a feeling of joy then anything else. If you have someone that has passed away and you feel like they were far away from Jesus. I am sorry for that, but know that you have the opportunity to come close to Jesus today. Eternal life is avavliable through everyone who gives their life over to Jesus. You can have hope that you never had before with faith in Jesus. Don’t be afraid to ask someone what it takes to have faith in Jesus or what faith in Jesus is all about. If you do have faith in Jesus, be free to share this message with others today.

Have a great day.

---

^[1] Thomas L. Constable, “1 Thessalonians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 703–704.

Wearing your varsity jacket years after you graduate high school = living in the past

"You can't focus on the past to be the future."

This was a line I heard on ESPN radio coming into church today.

So much truth behind this.

If you want to do something in the future you can’t focus just on the past.

It's like wearing your varsity jacket years after graduating high school, nobody cares about what happened in your high school.

Sorry if you just found this out.

Does this mean the past doesn’t matter?

No.

I would say the past does matter.

There is a line, “When you forget the past you are destined to repeat it.”

If we don’t learn from the past we could make those same mistakes again.

Our church has been going through the Bible in a Year program as an entire Church.

This is usually the time when people that make this commitment give up on it.

It can be hard to learn from something you don’t understand and quit.

There is benefit behind studying this.

Paul knew this and he was able to sum up over 1,000 years in about 12 paragraphs in Acts 13:13-52.

He sums up going into slavery in Egypt and continues on to sum up the entire Bible until his time.

If you have never read the Bible, check this several chapter out for a little history.

This is pretty impressive.

One of the lines I love through this section is verses 39-40…

“There, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

Paul is talking to some people that know this history and others have no clue on the history of the world and the Bible.

He focuses on this part Jesus is the reason sins are forgiven.

I am guilty.

I am a sinner.

Anybody who knows me for longer than five minutes knows that I am a guilty sinner.

We all are.

Yet through Jesus and only through Jesus are sins are forgiven.

People grasp this section of scripture and comeback to Paul to hear more.

Many gave their lives to Christ.

Someone died for you.

They didn’t deserve it and face one of the worst deaths imaginable just for you, your sins and mistakes.

Jesus loves you.

He cares for you and wants you to have eternal life.

Life doesn’t end on earth.

It does go on for eternity.

The choice of where you get to spend eternity is up to you and your faith in Jesus or not.

There is no other way to heaven other than through Jesus.

I thank God for giving up his sons life for a sinner like me.

How about you?

You can’t focus on the past to be the future.

You can’t live in the past, but you can live on in the future.

Where do you want to live past this earthly life?

Have a great day.